Krisburg reports that he's been in the industry for 35 years and still enjoys helping clients find machines to match their projects. "You might find the seeder's tank shape has changed, but the basic technology isn't that much different from 1955. There have been minor changes, in my opinion, but the general attitude is, 'If it's not broke, don't fix it.'

"Straw and hay mulch will never go out of favor. They are decidedly less expensive to apply. The industry is essentially the same as it was 35 years ago," he reiterates.

A Canadian User's View

For Bill Boesterd, president of Denbow Transport Ltd. in Chilliwack, BC, blowers have a variety of uses. In fact, a seeder doesn't have to be involved-especially when odor control is the focus. He recalls an emergency call he got to help cover a 7-ac. lagoon of raw sewage with 8-12 in. of sawdust. "A sewage digester broke down in Vancouver. They pumped the flow into another lagoon for temporary storage. But there were a lot of upscale homeowners downwind from the raw sewage, and they made headlines."

Children at a nearby preschool were kept indoors to protect them from the stomach-turning stench. Their band leader remarked, "The smell is so overwhelming that when you step outdoors, the gag reflex sets in right away." A restaurant manager said the odor was gagging workers and patrons, and golfers were blaming the lagoon for poor scores. Meanwhile, the press declared, "Get used to it, because the stench will be with us for months." Plant officials diverted half the plant's daily 130 million gal. of waste, prescribed an odor-killing chemical to be applied, then called for an 8- to 12-in. sawdust cap. Boesterd points out that he has been supplying and blowing materials for about 15 years, but this was the first time that the major concern was odor control, not erosion control.

Naturally, one couldn't spread the sawdust by traversing the 7 ac. with a truck, nor could a hose operator rely on that cap of sawdust keeping him topside, so hose application was out of the picture. "The sewage-authority people even tried to use a boat, but you don't really want to chance people falling out of a boat on a sewage lagoon. The Rexius Express Blower gave us the ability to get the distance needed to cover most of the lagoon. Helicopters mulched the center." Boesterd reports that the project took him and others involved nearly a month to complete. Now, many months later, the odor is so well contained that it's merely a memory.

Returning Home

For this job, a compost blend soil mix was blown over an existing lawn that had been exterminated with a topical herbicide.

Mike Irish, general sales manager for Brillion Iron Works in Brillion, WI, is pleased that the basic seeder design remains the same after a half century. "We get phone calls from people who've gone away from our seeder to other machines and are coming back for this system that's been around more than 50 years. Our machine started out as a joint venture with the University of Wisconsin at Madison and still is considered the best system for planting grasses and legumes."

Brillion makes two types of seeders, explains Irish. One is an ag series, and the other is for professional turf growers. "The key to the seeder is the front roller that firms up the ground and prepares it for seeding. It leaves the ground with a 1-inch ridge 2 ²/₃₂ inches apart. It lays the seed atop the ridges, and the rear roller splits the ridges created by the front roller. That covers the seed and places all seed within a half inch of the surface." The rear roller firms up the seedbed, applying about 200 lb./ft.²

"Seed-to-soil contact is essential," Irish emphasizes. And this is where other pieces of equipment, including pulverizers and pulvimulchers, come into play. "Users are getting back to the proper agronomic basis for planting grass seed. Grass is a crop, and there are proper ways to seed to get a better stand."

Irish notes that larger hopper capacities are in demand, as are seeders that will plant heavier rates of seed and travel 30º slopes safely. "I think where we see a lot of use of our seeders is on the large, flat areas and slight slopes. If the ground gets steep, contractors tend to shift to hydroseeding machines because that's the safest way."

New this year is Brillion's Mulch Tucker, an 8-ft. unit for securing straw or other mulch over seeding. "It has a notched straight disc on the front that pushes straw into the ground. A second roller-a regular pulverizer roller-helps firm up the seedbed. Users are seeding, blowing on straw at recommended rates, then going over with the Mulch Tucker. They report covering as much as 32-40 acres in a day's work." Irish adds that another trend is the move to native seed mixes.

Another change in today's application industry is the fineness of chopping involved. Byron Riesen, sales manager for Goossen Industries in Beatrice, NE, says this old-line company has been making machines for 50 years, including vacuums, hydroseeding machines, straw blowers, and chipper/shredders. "Our earlier units chopped the hay or straw into 2- to 4-inch lengths. It took a lot less power with a lot of knives. But the industry is moving toward longer material and crimping the straw with a disk after laydown."

Riesen points out that operators can apply two bales in one minute, covering 2,000 ft.² "Those machines will go wherever you can get a vehicle. Users can tow it behind a tractor or use engine-driven units put on a trailer." He adds that fine tuning is pretty much the order of the day.

Newer on the Scene

Paul Stalker of Stalker Machine Inc. in Burwell, NE, is convinced that the industry needs a means for handling large round or square bales more economically. That's why this contractor also manufactures of The Straw Blaster. The device uses a shroud made by Reinco, but the rest of the machine is custom-made. "When we use big bales, we cut our hay or straw costs by 50-60% versus the same amount in small bales. We also cut our cost of labor by about 70%."

When asked how steep the slopes are that he can handle, he confesses, "I've been on slopes so steep, the oil ran out of the tank on my pickup." His own work is focused on hog confinement facilities. "All we're doing is seeding and putting on mulch, 2 tons to the acre or about 1.4 inches or so thick, depending on the materials. We can cover about 70 acres in eight hours using good straw."

Seeding With Soil

For Dan Sutton of Eugene, OR, a logical carrier for a seeding operation is soil. Sutton, vice president of marketing for Rexius Express Blowers, states, "Basically, we seed with soil-whether it's a compost product or a blended soil mix injected with seed during application. The biggest advantage is that the contractor is taking care of two processes with one application. Many projects need products on slope for immediate erosion control, then have the hydroseeding machine come in after. Now, with one application you can blow on the compost and inject the seed all at the same time."

He reports working on banks as steep as 1:1. "Ideal application is 2:1 or flatter. But in the past 18 months, we've handled diverse projects, including stabilizing streambanks, seeding bioswales, seeding wetlands on reclamation projects, installing residential landscaped lawns using soil, and seeding several ball fields."

Sutton notes that it takes three to five days for new owners to be fully trained using the new Express Blower technology. "They'll do a lot of renovating ball fields by top-dressing and overseeding at the same time. Whatever process is needed that combines compost or soil mix and seed together, we can tailor the application to that need."

Looking to the other manufacturers, he comments, "I would say that each has its own special seeding niche, although the overlap is far greater than ever before. Areas that before could only be hydroseeded can now use this technique called terraseeding. Besides saving soil compaction and time, it provides a much better environment for seed to grow in because the seed is completely blended into the media it will grow in. Soil is holding the material in place, so use of tackifiers is greatly reduced or eliminated."

Even better, he declares, "not only is the seed protected from the elements, but it's blended in an environment that's biologically much more effective in germinating that seed, keeping it moist and warm so that success is greatly enhanced." Sutton reports germination rates are boosted 50-100%. "Many find they're mowing a week sooner than with other technology. At this time, it's not heavily into the golf industry, but we see golf as a new growth area. Most of its application is for ball fields and residential lawns."

Rexius also is looking to advantages that come from applying pre-emergent products into the mulch. "Any granular additive, such as fertilizer, seed, pre-emergent, and various biological stimulants, can be applied while applying mulch, compost, or other soil products at planting. In addition, we're now using the Express Blower to apply compost products in the form of a sediment-filter berm to replace silt fencing."

Looking to the regulatory future, he adds, "In our area of Oregon, anytime you break ground on 500 square feet or greater, you need to have an erosion control plan in place. It's going to get stricter as time goes on and people get more sensitive to environmental issues."

Contractors Talk Shop

A survey among other users reveals that change and improvement continue to be the order of the day. Jim Wilson, vice president of Express Scapes in Easley, SC, says they began operation 13 months ago with blower trucks. "Most of the EC work we do is with composted hardwood-bark mulch. The fiberness of hardwoods gives better erosion control, plus the fibers are more aesthetically pleasing than other blown-on products."

Their principal market is residential and commercial. "A 5:1 slope is fairly typical, and in residential application we're using peanut hulls composted with biosolids. [The mixture] is 1.5 nitrogen, 0.5 phosphorous, and 0.5 potassium, with a typical mix of 70% compost and 30% sand. The sand gives some drainage, and peanut hulls have the same moisture-retention properties as peat moss."

Typical application thickness is 1.5 in. "The compost's microorganisms amend the soil below. It changes the flavor of that soil," Wilson notes. "We usually start with somewhere around 4-5 pH and need to be in the 6- to 7-pH range with our clay-based soils. On existing lawns we run a plugging machine to help break up compaction. Before normal rainfall can wash the plugs back in, we come in with compost and fill those holes. It makes the plug like a fertilizer stick. It also has penetrated the thatch layer and doubles the surface area for amending the soil."

Further, getting air to the roots encourages improved carbon exchange. "Black compost also absorbs sunlight and will warm the soil 3-4º, so we get a lot better rate of growth. Thanks to the technology, we've done some jobs as late as December and got substantial growth for being that late in the year," Wilson says.

Large lawns are prevalent in his marketing area, ranging from 3,500 ft.² up to 2 ac. "We're competing with sod application for a quarter to a third the cost of sod. In warmer weather, we're seeing substantial growth in two weeks, with wintertime taking two to three times as long."

Wilson gives an example of a doctor's office on a hillside that had been excavated to provide a level area for the building and the parking lot. "The slope was 3:1, and the landscaper had tried for three years in a row to grow grass. He had us come in and blow this compost/sand blend and inject grass seed. It solved two problems: the pH was in the high 4s or low 5s-very acidic. Applying microorganisms amended the flavor of that soil and provided the organic material needed for moisture retention." This was of particular concern because the site was nonirrigated.

"We didn't have to plug because we didn't have a thatch layer that we felt we needed to penetrate. Granted, it would have been better to do it, but it wasn't in his budget." Still, Wilson was able to give the customer a custom, quality job. "We blew in the soil mix, filled in those eroded places, and made the whole place look like wind-driven black snow. We didn't have to do any grading or prep to get it smooth. We just filled the crevices, like using Bondo for repairing the body of an auto. It took us about three hours, including time for pictures." The crew consisted of a truck operator and a helper moving the hose. "We laid down 8 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet, putting down a quarter pound of seed per cubic yard of compost, and a yard of compost covered 216 square feet."

Two weeks later Wilson returned to the scene and took more photos. "It got phenomenal growth in just two weeks." The work included a slight berm at the top of the property line to help slow water flow from higher up the slope. "The moisture-retention properties of peanut hulls did not allow any further erosion, and we did have two significant rains during that period." Seed mix was Rebel Three pure fescue by Lofts Seed. "We also use Teammates by Lesco-an 80% fescue with 20% perennial rye-but this was a pure-fescue job."

Wilson concludes that the place could have been mowed after two weeks, but the landscaper waited five weeks. "We got so much rain that he felt he needed time for the root structure to get fully established." How did the customer react? "He was so ecstatic. There's no telling how many jobs we've sold since."

Henry Floyd, owner of Ladd's Farm Supply in Cartersville, GA, has been in business since 1974. One of the two companies operating out of the same headquarters is Ladd's Grassing. "We run about 25 DOT [Department of Transportation] contracts all the time through Ladd's Grassing, most of them right of way and some landfill. Those contracts will run from $25,000-$350,000, so I wake up to a new world every morning." He is the subcontractor to the prime contractor.

"Most of the ground is loamy and clayey. On slopes of 2:1, we lay down mats, with straw blown on 3:1 and 4:1 slopes. Whatever the DOT wants, we put down. We're using wheat straw and fiber mats, using tackifiers on top of the straw applications." Those mats, which come from American Excelsior, are less than 0.5 in. thick, and each mat can range from 6.6 x 84 ft. to 8 x 120 ft. "We put those in with 6-inch sod staples. Everything is biodegradable and won't be seen after two years."

Typical grasses include lovegrass, lespedeza, and fescue. "On a 2:1 slope, we'll put down 50-pound fescue, 75-pound lespedeza, and 5- to 10-pound lovegrass. Like Bermuda, love turns brown in the winter, but it has a good deep-root system for handling dry weather." A typical project involved the Bartow County Landfill. "The main contractor packed it with a dozer. We hydroseeded it, then rolled a mat on some of the 25 acres and strawed the rest. It takes four people to lay down an acre of mat a day, but we can blow on straw in 30 minutes. The mat is like good insurance: You hardly ever have to go back if you've put it down according to the manufacturer's recommendation."

Other seeding methods this contractor uses include fertilizer, seed, and lime laid down with a tractor seeder. "We run our fertilizer truck where we can if we're doing flat seeding. It's a 2-ton, single-axle, six-wheeler with two spinners that evenly distributes the material, then pulls a drag chain over the ground." Floyd reports that he's been using an A.J. Sackett & Sons blender for the past year. "Before that, we bought the materials ready-mixed. Being able to mix our own materials saves us $20 a ton."

Floyd is able to traverse sideways on 3:1 slopes. "The tractor pulls a spin spreader from Kuhn, and we've been using it for 10 years for seeding before laying down mats or straw."

This contractor has a unique way of handling big, round bales: he unrolls them. "I've got a machine by Kuhn that lets me unroll so I can rebale during the off season. Then I can run those small, square bales through my Model 65 Reinco. I sometimes visit two to three jobs a day and can't take a caravan, so I have to have square bales. Tub grinders can grind them, but that means another piece to the caravan. Also, my trailer holds just 12 round bales, which is the equivalent of 120 smaller square bales, yet I can carry 200 bales of the square ones."

Floyd says there is just a two-week season when he can buy wheat straw, which is why he'll buy the round ones as well as the smaller, rectangular bales. "The Clean Water Act makes use for a lot of hay in Georgia. Don't want those streams contaminated. We try to grow our own hay for our jobs; sometimes we have to buy." This contractor also crimps his straw to prevent wind loss.

Going Native

Jon Mohn, second-generation family member of Mohn Frontier Seed Company in Cottonwood, MN, says they use a lot of native prairie plants. "We utilize seed that we harvest from native virgin prairies. We clean it, test it, and plant some back into fields to produce more of the same."

He adds that many of their private projects vary in size, with some as small as 200 ft.² and some as large as 1,200 ac. "For those smaller projects, we have an hourly rate. We do such a variety of work that we have many different seeders, including Vicon, Brillion, LandPride, and no-tills such as Great Plains. While we can do a small job in an afternoon, it typically takes a native prairie mix two to three years to get established. Patience is prime.

"Before we start a project, we have the homeowner test the soil to make sure there is no chemical carryover from agronomic crops, which can affect growth."

Working Higher Elevations

In Taos, NM, Robert Romero operates The Feed Bin. "We do farming, run a retail store for pet foods in Santa Fe, and have a reclamation company. In a given year we'll reclaim 1,000-1,500 acres throughout New Mexico, parts of Colorado, Texas, and into Arizona. We do highways, airports, landfills, pipelines, construction sites, schools-any work of disturbed areas."

He remembers a project at the Summitville Mine near South Fork, CO. "It wasn't big, but it was at a 13,000-foot elevation. We had 45 acres of Class A seeding and about 25 acres of hydromulching." Slopes in the half-moon-shaped pit were 0.25 mi. long and averaged 3:1. "We were able to do them with tractors all the way from the top of the moon to the bottom."

The whole project took 20 days, starting in late October. "Besides 2 feet of snowfall, it got to -20ºF, and we weren't expecting emergence until the following June or July," recalls Romero. He had a crew of seven at the site. The equipment lineup included two Finn Hydroseeders, a Truax seeder, a pair of Massey Ferguson 399 4x4 tractors, a 9-ft. disk, and a 1-ton John Deere fertilizer spreader. "We put in 10 hours a day, including travel time on 18 miles of graveled road that took 45 minutes each way."

River-Levee Restoration

On the other end of the scale is Max Merrick of Merrick Construction Company in Cottonport, LA. Much of the company's $10 million to $12 million a year in work with 100 employees involves river-levee restoration. "Those levees are 12-15 feet high. In times past, contractors seeded year-round-and prayed. Now the Army Corps of Engineers won't allow seeding other than in the spring of the year, and the grass typically is Bermuda."

He notes past strategy for levee stretches renewed in late fall was to plant a Bermuda-rye mix. "The rye would get tall, fall over, and smother young Bermuda grass trying to come up in the spring. So we start the levee work in the spring, complete it in the fall, then seed in the spring."

Steps include disking lightly, then dragging with a spike-toothed harrow and cultipacking with a Brillion seeder. "It packs seeds the same time it plants them. This makes life simpler. Next, we come in and mulch using 1.5 tons per acre of wheat straw. The most important thing now is we're spending considerable time watering. We're using a 6-inch Gorman-Rupp pressure pump attached to a water cannon, and using three water trucks to supply it." Ten days is the typical time, with watering every day in dry times and every other day during wetter periods.

"You're controlling the amount of moisture. You're keeping the site damp but not putting down so much water that you're getting an erosion problem; that's the key to the whole thing. I used to not believe in packing the soil, but this combination is working really well," remarks Merrick.

The seed mix is 20 lb. Bermuda and 30 lb. rye per acre. "We also shred the rye grass and not let it get higher than 6-8 inches because we don't want it falling down and smothering the Bermuda." He uses a Vermeer Top Gun for handling round bales. "We follow with an MD-96 Reinco mulch disk, which ties the mulch into the soil."

This humid-climate operator reiterates, "When you water, you control moisture. You get grass up before you get a deluge that ruins the stand and erodes the levee."